The Popular Girl Mocked My Weight, Until I Became a Total Knockout Chapter 08

The Popular Girl Mocked My Weight, Until I Became a Total Knockout Chapter 08

“Emma… Carlson…”

The name left Brittany’s lips like a curse.

No matter how hard she stared, she couldn’t connect that face to the memory of the girl from high

school.

The entire morning, she couldn’t focus.

Those upperclassmen who’d come to watch her? Their attention had been hijacked completely. Everyone’s eyes tracked only me.

By lunch break, I was mobbed.

“Emma, I heard you hurt your ankle. How are you feeling?”

“Wait, she’s injured? Why are we even training? Sit down, rest!”

“I’ll talk to the orientation leader for you, you shouldn’t risk it.”

“Are you thirsty? We’ve got water, soda, name it. I’ll run and get whatever you want.”

I smiled and waved them off. “Thanks, everyone. Water’s fine.”

That smile hit them like a freight train. They just stood there, dazed, grinning foolishly.

My own roommates, who’d already been through the shock when I showed up at the dorm last night, pulled my cap down lower and muttered, “You have no idea what that smile does to people.”

Then someone called out to me. “Emma, long time no see.”

I turned. Brittany.

That smug composure she always wore was cracked. Her eyes burned with jealousy.

I gave her a nod.

“You two know each other?” someone asked.

Brittany smiled tightly. “Yeah. We were high school classmates.”

Gasps of excitement. “No way! Your class must’ve been blessed!”

Brittany braced herself for compliments about having two beauties in one room.

But the girl continued, “Three years with Emma? I’m so jealous!”

“Your whole class must have crazy high standards now.”

Brittany realized she’d been completely edited out of the praise. Rage simmered under her skin.

She stared at me, eyes slicing like knives.

Suddenly, she curled her lips into a sly smile. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen Emma look like

this, you know. She was nothing like this back in high school.”

The people around her exchanged puzzled glances.

But Brittany didn’t elaborate.

Right before they called us back to the assembly, she leaned in close and whispered coldly, “I’m going to find out exactly what you did to your body this summer. Don’t think you’ve won yet.”

I blinked at her, genuinely baffled by her logic.

Whatever.

All day, the high school group chat wouldn’t stop pinging.

Since I’d said I was arriving, everyone kept tagging Brittany for photos.

Normally she’d be all too happy to upload my most unflattering shots. But this time, radio silence.

[Did she look that bad?]

[Now I’m dying to know what Emma actually looks like.)

[@Derek Walsh, isn’t your school right next to Westbrook? Swing by and satisfy our curiosity.]

[Yeah, you’re dating Brittany, take a photo of Emma while you’re there.]

Derek never replied.

The next day, the crowd under the trees had doubled.

Last time, Jenna had claimed half the people were there for Brittany, mostly flattery.

Today, at least seventy percent had come solely to see the legendary face everyone was whispering

about.

Every single one showed up skeptical. Every single one left stunned.

“I thought it was hype, but it’s real.”

“She wouldn’t just be campus queen. She could be a celebrity overnight.”

“I bet she’ll have agents lining up by next week.”

No one even glanced at Brittany anymore.

She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood.

Then her gaze snagged on a familiar silhouette, and her heart lurched.

“Derek!” she called out.